Brazilian tennis prodigy Joao Fonseca, one of the breakout stars of the 2025 Australian Open, has revealed who inspired him to take up the sport.

Two weeks after stunning world no. 9 Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open, the Brazilian Joao Fonseca cracked the top-100! At 18 years and five months, Joao is the youngest top-100 player to enter the elite group since Carlos Alcaraz in October 2021.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is a master of easing into majors. At every one, he has a match that lifts him up. Will this one be it?

This image made from animation and provided by Tennis Australia shows Brazil’s Joao Fonseca during his first round match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev in an animation ... round match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open tennis ...